Pop Queen Defends Title By Scoring Rare 'Triple'

MUSIC - CHART WATCH

Whitney Houston got an early Christmas present this week: Her ''I Will Always Love You'' scored a rare ''triple'' with simultaneous No. 1 titles on three singles charts.

In recent weeks, Houston's ''Love'' had quickly skyrocketed to the top spot on both the pop and R&B charts but couldn't quite get past Michael Bolton's ''To Love Somebody'' on the adult-contemporary list. But this week, ''Somebody'' finally slipped to No. 2 after five weeks as champ, and that put Houston in an elite group of artists who have been able to register an across-the-board sweep.

The good news doesn't stop there for the pop diva, who also gets most of the credit for the success of her movie The Bodyguard and the soundtrack album, which repeated at No. 1 this week despite strong challenges from three resurgent records: Michael Bolton's Timeless, which jumped from No. 4 to No. 2; Garth Brooks' The Chase, up from No. 5 to No. 3; and Billy Ray Cyrus' Some Gave All, now back in the Top 5 at No. 4 after slipping to No. 7.

Topping it all off for Houston is the fact that she automatically will get an extra week at No. 1 on all four lists due to Billboard magazine's annual holiday break, which means all of this week's rankings will be frozen until the charts resume on Jan. 1.